Under continual attack from both microbial pathogens and multicellular parasites, insects must cope with immune challenges every day of their lives. However, this has not prevented them from becoming the most successful group of animals on the planet. Insects possess highly-developed innate immune systems which have been fine-tuned by an arms race with pathogens spanning hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history. Recent discoveries are revealing both an unexpected degree of specificity and an indication of immunological memory - the functional hallmark of vertebrate immunity.
The study of insect immune systems has accelerated rapidly in recent years and is now becoming an important interdisciplinary field. Furthermore, insects are a phenomenally rich and diverse source of antimicrobial chemicals. Some of these are already being seriously considered as potential therapeutic agents to control microbes such as MRSA. Despite a burgeoning interest in the field, this is the first book to provide a coherent synthesis and is clearly structured around two broadly themed sections: mechanisms of immunity and evolutionary ecology.
This novel text adopts an interdisciplinary and concept-driven approach, integrating insights from immunology, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, parasitology, and epidemiology. It features contributions from an international team of leading experts. Insect Infection and Immunity is suitable for both graduate students and researchers interested in insect immunity from either an evolutionary, genetical, physiological or molecular perspective. Due to its interdisciplinary and concept-driven approach, it will also appeal to a broader audience of immunologists, parasitologists and evolutionary biologists requiring a concise overview.
1: Stuart Reynolds and Jens Rolff: Introducing Insect Infection and Immunity A. Immune Mechanisms and Integration 2: Nichole A. Broderick, David P. Welchman & Bruno Lemaitre: Recognition and Response to Microbial Infection of Drosophila 3: Emily J. Ragan, Chunju An, Haobo Jiang & Michael R. Kanost: Roles of Hemolymph Proteins in Antimicrobial Defences of Manduca sexta 4: Jean-Luc Imler & Ioannis Eleftherianos: Drosophila as a Model for Studying Antiviral Defenses 5: Suchismita Das, Yuemei Dong, Lindsey Garver & George Dimopoulos: Specificity of the Innate Immune System: A Closer Look at the Mosquito Pattern Recognition Receptor Repertoire 6: Fotis Kafatos, Robert Waterhouse, Evgeny Zdobnov & George Christophides: Comparative Genomics of Insect Immunity 7: David Schneider: Physiological Integration of Innate Immunity B. Immune Interactions and Evolution 8: Gregory D.D. Hurst & Alistair C. Darby: The Inherited Microbiota of Arthropods, and their Importance in Understanding Resistance and Immunity 9: Sebastien Moreau, Elisabeth Huguet & Jean-Michel Drezen: Insect Viruses, Parasitoids and their Interactions with the Insect Immune System: Polydnaviruses as Tools to Deliver Wasp Virulence Factors to Impair Lepidopteran Host Immunity 10: Jacob Koella: Immune Responses and the Evolution of Resistance 11: Shelley A. Adamo: The Impact of Physiological State on Immune Function in Insects 12: Alex R. Kraaijeveld & Bregje Wertheim: Costs and Genomic Aspects of Drosophila Immunity to Parasites and Pathogens 13: Punita Juneja & Brian P. Lazzaro: Population Genetics of Insect Immune Responses 14: Ben M. Sadd & Paul Schmid-Hempel: Ecological and Evolutionary Implications of Specific Immune Responses 15: Michael T. Siva-Jothy: Reproductive Immunity Index
Jens Rolff (University of Sheffield, UK) has been contributing to the field of ecological immunology since it first emerged. He is especially interested in how immunity and life histories are interlinked with respect to seasonality and sex differences. He has published more than 30 papers on the evolutionary ecology of insect immunity and interactions with parasites. He is co-editor of Ecological Entomology and has fostered inter-disciplinary exchange by organising international workshops. Stuart Reynolds (University of Bath, UK) is co-editor of the Journal of Insect Physiology and has published more than 100 papers on insect physiology. He is particularly interested in the immune responses of lepidopteran larvae and the use of RNAi as a tool to investigate this. Together, they are convenors of the Insect Immunology Special Interest Group of the Royal Entomological Society of the UK.
Reviews for Insect Infection and Immunity: Evolution, Ecology, and Mechanisms
For those of us in the field, the timing of this work is perfect...This text propels the field into the next phase of integrative and comparative research. * Myrmecological News *
